Running-cedar, Fan Ground-pine (Lycopodium digitatum)

Running-cedar is an evergreen subshrub that spreads by underground runners. During the summer reproductive structures, called strobili, appear. The strobili bear sporangia, which enclose the spores. The strobili at left are immature.

Grayson Co., VA 7/25/10.

Common throughout North Carolina, it is frequently found in pine forests and other second-growth woodlands.

Hanging Rock, Stokes Co., NC 6/14/2009.

The leaves form flattened fans, somewhat reminiscent of conifers such as Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis).